Livewire, Mood indigo all set to rock

For the very first time, Livewire is headed to the North-East region of the country.

There is a realization that the music talent in the region is of really high standards. In order to explore and get this talent on the centre stage, Livewire, Mood indigo, is coming to Gangtok on the 30th of November at Café Live and Loud. This is where the eliminations for the rock bands who wish to compete from the entire North East region, will take place. 4 bands will be shortlisted to play on the 19th of December at IIT Bombay in the semi-finals alongside bands shortlisted from the Bombay, Delhi and Bangalore regions. 3 winning bands then get to compete in the finals on the Main Stage, Open Air Theatre, IIT Bombay, which will also serve as an opening act for Katatonia on the 21st.

Mood Indigo, the annual cultural festival of IIT Bombay is the biggest of its kind in India. A total of 72,000 students across 500 different colleges across India attend this annual extravaganza in the month of December. Several competitions, cultural events, workshops, informal events, professional performances in music and dance, games and many other exciting activities take place during the 4 days of Mood Indigo.
With the sheer number and quality of these events, Mood Indigo has gained its status of the biggest, most sort after cultural festival in the country. “We spend 6 months in a year waiting for Mood Indigo and the remaining 6 months getting over it! The grandeur is simply mesmerizing”, says a youth of IIT Bombay. One of the features of MI is the proshows, which are professional music performances at the end of each day at the Open Air Theatre, IIT Bombay.

Over the course of time, MI has had performances from the biggest names in the music industry from India and abroad. The prime feature, the semi-professional rock band competition, Livewire, is the ultimate launch pad for these contesting bands. Professional Indian bands such as Parikrama, Vayu, Zero, Pentagram etc. started off competing at Livewire, Mood Indigo. As a matter of fact, these bands feature in the Livewire Music album that has been recently launched in association with Rolling Stone, India. Other artists include Rosemary, Something Relevant, Noiseware etc.

Livewire is headlined by some of the most well known international artists from around the globe. Bands such as Porcupine Tree and Ensiferum have performed at the Open Air Theatre in the past. “The crowd was amazing. It was a wonderful experience”, said Steven Wilson, lead vocalist and guitarist of Porcupine Tree. This year, the competition will be headlined by Katatonia, the famous metal band from Sweden. The reason Livewire is known to be a launch pad for music bands who want to make it big, is because of the several incentives that it has to offer. This time around, the winning bands get a cash prize of 70,000 INR, gift vouchers worth 1,10,000 INR from Furtados for Musical Instruments, a chance to open and share the stage with Katatonia and a contract with Four Zone Music Studio, Bombay, to record 4 EP’s in their highly equipped studio. Along with this, the best guitarist gets a Kramer Guitar worth 70,000 INR !